NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

BISCOT 2019 & RBGE Florilegium at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

13/6/2019

In this post I'm sharing photos of:

BISCOT medal winning artists with their paintings - at the BISCOT Exhibition at Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh (RBGE)
paintings for the NEW RBGE Florilegium

You can see the exhibition of paintings

AT: The John Hope Gateway, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Arboretum Place, EH3 5NZ
UNTIL: 20 June 2019

About Botanical Images Scotia (BISCOT)

BISCOT is an acronym for "Botanical Images Scotia". It's an annual international exhibition in Scotland of contemporary botanical illustration which

promotes excellence in botanical painting and illustration.
gives both national and international artists an opportunity to exhibit in Edinburgh and presents new and original botanical work.

Each exhibitor creates a display of SIX artworks - and the exhibition is open to and attracts international entrants. In this respect BISCOT is the Scottish equivalent of the RHS Botanical Art Show in London - and is regarded as the top show in Scotland in terms of awards and prestige.

Below are photos of artists with their paintings after the exhibition transferred from Gardening Scotland to the RBGE John Hope Gateway last week.

Gold Medals

Fran Thomas (Scotland, UK) - Scottish Native Cladonia Lichens
Sansanee Deekrajang (Thailand) - Tropical Palm Trees
Marianne Hazlewood (Scotland, UK) - Arisaema biseasonal
Simonetta Occhipinti (Italy) - The Golden Fruits

Fran Thomas (Scotland, UK) - Scottish Native Cladonia Lichens (GOLD Medal)

Fran Thomas GM (Biscot) - Fran paints native Scottish plants. In 2017 she also won a Gold Medal at BISCOT 2017 and the Mary Mendum Medal for the Best Exhibit - for her watercolour paintings of "Native plants of the coasts and islands of the Firth of Forth". She also has two RHS Silver Gilt Medals.

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Remembering Mally Francis FLS FEPFS FCPGFS

22/4/2019

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Mally Francis FLS FEPFS FCPGFS, the Cornish based botanical artist, illustrator and tutor and Founder Chairman of the Eden Project Florilegium Society, died on Saturday 13th April 2019 after a short illness.

This post remembers Mally and her achievements. It contains

a timeline of her life in botanical art
a video of Mally talking about botanical painting and
references to her artwork, articles about her and a book she illustrated.

I last saw Mally at the Royal Horticultural Society Botanical Art Show last summer. She was there supporting both Laura Silburn who was taught botanical painting by Mally and the Association of British Botanical Artists' stand. Her fabulous painting of 'Babington's Leek' was displayed on the stand and attracted the attention of Shirley Sherwood who bought it - hence the red spot!

Indeed I first heard about Mally Francis at the 2013 RHS Botanical Art Show when I met Laura Silburn for the first time and interviewed her for my Gold Medal Winner Interviews. She told me what an inspiration Mally was to her and what an excellent teacher she was.

Mally Francis with her painting of Babington’s Leek (Allium ampeloprasum var.babingtonii) at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2018 (12th July 2018)

Mally Francis with her painting of Babington’s Leek (Allium ampeloprasum var.babingtonii) at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2018 (12 July 2018)

Mally Francis - a Timeline in Botanical Art

1946 - born in Yorkshire

1967 - qualified as a speech and language therapist in Edinburgh

1988 - started to learn about botanical art; studied with Anne-Marie Evans in Leicestershire - and followed her principals for all her artwork and teaching

She was a particularly lovely person and always very kind. I have known her for well over 30 years. She started botanical painting with me at the Leicester college and became a member of the LSBI. She also attended many of my Summer Schools at Market Overton. She then moved to Cornwall and started teaching but we kept in contact and I have always heard particularly flattering comments about her teaching. I am sure that all who had the privilege of knowing her will miss her
Anne-Marie Evans

1996 - moved from Leicester to Cornwall

2000 - started her botanical painting classes at her Sawpit Studio

2001 - Founded the Eden Project Florilegium Society

2012 - Made a Fellow of the Linnean Society for her contribution to botanical art.

Below is the story of what happened during those years....

Mally and her husband Charles, a photographer, moved to the Heligan Estate and embarked on their joint creative endeavour. Here they

renovated the Wagon House - eventually creating accommodation for their students
rebuilt the derelict sawpit, creating the Sawpit Studio for botanical painting and as a photographic studio.

The Studio was originally built about 250 years ago as the Sawpit for the Heligan estate when logs were dragged in by a horse and then cut into planks and beams by two men using a pit saw. One above, standing on the log (the top-dog) and the other below in the pit, covered in sweat and sawdust, (the under-dog).
When we bought The Wagon House in 1997 the Sawpit had become a ruin with only two cob walls standing and the brick piers opposite to support the roof.
In 1999 we commenced the restoration and it came into full use as our studio early in 2000. The Sawpit, thirty feet long and six feet deep still remains beneath the floor as a little piece of Heligan history.
Nowadays, the Sawpit is in full time use again, either for the Botanical Painting classes or as a Photographic Studio. A collection of old saws are attached to the roof beams.

TEACHING: Mally ran her botanical painting courses in the Sawpit Studios from 2000 - until just recently. She also taught botanical art classes at the Eden Project, the Bath Society, the South West Society, Stourhead, Ventnor on the Isle of Wight, Truro Arts, Boconnoc House and Trengwainton Gardens in Cornwall.

She tutored artists ranging from complete beginners through to advanced levels - with two artists awarded Gold Medals in recent years by the RHS. She was the sole tutor of Laura Silburn who has now won three RHS gold medals and who credits Mally Francis with her involvement in botanical art.

My teaching philosophy is to encourage all students to develop their own skills to the highest level possible. There is never any competition in my classes and everyone can work at their own pace. The courses are always enjoyable and old friends meet each other year after year as they return to continue their studies. Everyone has their own aspirations and it gives me great pleasure to help them to achieve their own goals.
Mally Francis (in Mally Francis Paints the Lost Gardens of Heligan
February 1, 2011 by Tania Marien)

a still from the video about her botanical painting classes at the Wagon House

GARDENS AND PLANTS: Their life was intertwined with two major garden projects in Cornwall largely created by Sir Tim Smit KBE

The Lost Gardens of Heligan - they lived on the Estate
The Eden Project - a 20 minute drive away

The connections were intrinsic to communicating the structures and plants in both locations.

Tim Smit asked Mally to illustrate Heligan Wild: A Year of Nature in the Lost Gardens (1999) a book about the Lost Gardens of Heligan. She also illustrated Heligan Days - A Perpetual Diary (2005)
Charles was the official photographer of the Eden Project (1997-1984) - while it was being built

EDEN PROJECT FLORILEGIUM SOCIETY: Mally founded the Eden Project Florilegium Society (EPFS) in 2000 and became its first Chairman of in 2001 - and held that position until 2012 when she retired and was made the Honorary Founder Chairman of EPFS.

She provided tuition and inspiration to two-thirds of the artists whose work features in the Eden Project Florilegium. She also organised many exhibitions of artwork by her students and members of the EPFS.

The Florilegium was the inspiration of Mally Francis FCPGFS, FEPFS who founded the Society in 2000, and was its Chairman from 2001 to 2012. Mally stepped down in January 2012, and was made Honorary Founder Chairman of the Society, and a Fellow of The Linnean Society in recognition of her contributions to world of Botanical Illustration and Botany.
Eden Project Florilegium Society

RECOGNITION: In 2012, on her retirement from being Chairman of the Eden Project Florilegium Society she was made an Honorary Founder Member of the EPFS and a Fellow of the Linnean Society for her contribution to botanical art. She was also a member of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society.

More recently, her painting of Babington’s Leek (Allium ampeloprasum var. babingtonii) was a feature image for "In Ruskin's Footsteps" at the Peter Scott Gallery at Lancaster University in May 2018 - the UK contribution to the Worldwide Exhibition of Botanical Art organised by the Association of British Botanical Artists. Below are links to articles discussing the development of the artwork.

It was also displayed at the RHS Botanical Art Show (see my photo at the top of this post) and was bought by Shirley Sherwood for her collection.

Below is a video Mally Francis talking about the difference between flower painting and botanical painting - and why everybody can have a go at creating botanical art.

Mally Francis died on Saturday 13th April and leaves a husband Charles, two daughters and four grandsons.

She also leaves a legacy in terms of the interest and competence in botanical art she stimulated in very many of her students - in Cornwall and around the world - and her paintings in her studio, private collections and the archives of two Florilegia Societies.

Please feel free to add your own comment about and/or memories of Mally Francis via comments below.

FUNERAL DETAILS
Her funeral will be at 14:00 on Friday 3 May, at All Saints church, St Ewe, Cornwall. (Google Map)

REFERENCES

Obituary

Mally Francis FLS, FCPGFS 1946 - 2019 | ABBA

Titles, Memberships and Roles

Fellow of the Linnean Society.
Honorary Founder Chairman of the Eden Project Florilegium Society (2001-2012)
Fellow of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society.
Eden Project Botanical Art tutor

Mall Francis Online

Website: https://mallyfrancis.com/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mally.botanicalartist/
Twitter https://twitter.com/mally_francis
Eden Project Florilegium Society - About Us

Paintings for the Eden Project Florilegium Society

Paintings by Mally Francis

Articles / Blog posts

How to illustrate a six-foot-tall-plant – a master class! | Eden Project Florilegium Society
Babington’s Leek – Mally Francis ABBA Blog
Mally Francis is "Remembering Heligan" BAA Blog
Mally Francis Paints the Lost Gardens of Heligan by Tania Merian | Art Plantae

Books

Heligan Wild: A Year of Nature in the Lost Gardens (1999) - by Colin Howlett (Author), Mally Francis (Illustrator), Angus Hudson (Illustrator), Tim Smit (Introduction)
Heligan Days - A Perpetual Diary (2005) - illustrated by Mally Francis

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"The Florilegium: The Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney" exhibition at Kew Gardens

9/7/2018

The exhibition The Florilegium: The Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney opened at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew Gardens on 31 March and continues until 16th September 2018.

This is the second exhibition of this very impressive collection of watercolour paintings by members of The Florilegium: The Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney.
Click here for the list of Florilegium paintings and artists

It's a companion exhibition to Down Under II: Works from the Shirley Sherwood Collection which is a smaller exhibition of drawings and paintings of native Australian and New Zealand plants created by local and international artists - also on until 16th September - and also recommended by me.

Both are related to the reopening of The Temperate House in Kew Gardens - and a number of the paintings have an icon to indicate that the plants can be found in the Temperate House.

All the images in this post are of The Florilegium: The Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney exhibition - and contributing artists.

This week, there's an opportunity on Saturday 14 July, 10.30am-12.30pm to meet/greet Angela Lober, whose work is in the Shirley Sherwood Collection and on display as part of The Florilegium: Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. (Angela is also exhibiting at the RHS Botanical Art Show this week)

Her very impressive Video: Painting a Norfolk Island Pine for the RBG Sydney Florilegium (made for the original exhibition) is also playing in the Gallery as part of the exhibition.

Angela Lober (Araucaria heterophylla) and the video

This post covers:

the exhibition
videos related to the exhibition
the artists
related news posts

The Exhibition

This is a first class exhibition and one very definitely one not to be missed.
It sets a very high international standard for a large exhibition of a Florilegium.

Below are some views of the exhibition and how it was hung - for those Florilegium artists unable to travel to London for the exhibition - and for those of you who have not visited!

I hope they indicate the quality of the exhibition and why it should be viewed as essential viewing for those who are able.

Botanical Art Exhibitions opening 30-31 March 2018

30/3/2018

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It's a VERY big weekend for celebrating botanical art exhibited in botanical gardens!
One botanical art exhibition opens today Friday 30th March and three open tomorrow, Saturday 31 March. These are listed below by location and venue.

The first two exhibitions are associated with the Botanical Art Worldwide initiative and are at

the Auckland Botanic Gardens in New Zealand and
the Royal Botanical Garden in Edinburgh, Scotland respectively.

Plus there are two exhibitions opening at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew - one of which has come all the way to Kew from the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney, Australia! (Plus a further exhibition about the refurbished Temperate House which is relevant to both the botanical art exhibitions)

New Zealand:
‘Ngāi Tipu Taketake – Indigenous Flora’

Exhibition ‘Ngāi Tipu Taketake – Indigenous Flora’

Venue: Auckland Botanic Gardens - Visitors Centre Gallery 102 Hill Rd, Manurewa, Auckland 2105
Dates: March 30th - 1st July 2018

followed by a tour to:

Wellington Botanic Gardens from 1 August - 9 September 2018
Millennium Gallery, Blenheim from 3 November - 9 December 2018

Selected artworks: see my blog post Selected New Zealand artists for ‘Ngāi Tipu Taketake - Indigenous Flora’ (Botanical Art Worldwide #3)

Scotland - Flora Scotia

Dear friends, artists and supporters, please come and join us for a glass of wine on Saturday 31st March at the opening of the Flora Scotia exhibition, John Hope Gateway, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 3.30 - 5.30 pm. We look forward to seeing you there!

Exhibition: Flora Scotia

Venue: John Hope Gateway at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh
Dates: 31st March - 3rd June 2018

Selected artworks: See my blog post Selected Scottish artists for 'Flora Scotia' (Botanical Art Worldwide #5)

DO READ: There are a number of splendid stories about how the plants were chosen and painted by the different artists on the Scottish Botanical Art Collective website.

Kew Gardens - Australian Flora: three new exhibitions

All three exhibitions relate to Australian flora and can be seen in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

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Alcatraz Florilegium Returns to The Rock!

29/9/2017

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A new exhibition of botanical drawings and paintings documenting the plants of the Gardens of Alcatraz has been announced - and opened last week!

Details are below and you can see more pictures of the exhibit on the Facebook Page of the Northern California Society of Botanical Artists who organise the development of the Florilegium

The exhibition includes 127 works of art depicting a variety of “survivor” plants growing on the island. They were created by 77 NCalSBA artists and selected for the exhibition by a jury.

Alcatraz Florilegium
Venue: Prison Band Rehearsal Room, Alcatraz Island
Dates: September 16th 2017 - January 17th 2018
Organised by: a project of Northern California Society of Botanical Artists (NCalSBA) in collaboration with the Garden Conservancy

Below is the Alcatraz Island Florilegium Committee - Catherine Watters, Sally Petru, and Lyn Dahl

The Gardens of Alcatraz were restored by three organisations working together with much support from dedicated volunteers. In 2003, the Garden Conservancy, Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy and National Park Service began their collaboration to restore the historic gardens. As every gardener knows the work to plant and prune, compost and weed, restore and maintain the gardens never ends!

REFERENCE:

The Gardens of Alactraz - website
The Gardens of Alcatraz - a pdf file about the restoration of the
The Gardens of Alcatraz Florilegium

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Call for Applications - Finnis Scott Foundation Botanical Art Award

7/5/2017

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The Finnis Scott Foundation has announced a Call for Applications for its NEW Botanical Art Award worth £10,000 for organisations involved with botanical art.

A number of leading people in the botanical art world have been helping to get the award set up. Applications will judged by a sub-committee of experts with knowledge of botanical art.

Below is a briefing about this brand new award. [Please note minor modifications have been made since this was first posted as matters have been clarified]

This is a very long post so there's a READ MORE break inserted - so make sure you click READ MORE to read the complete post.

The Finnis Scott Foundation Botanical Art Award (£10,000)

I've been asked by Charlotte Brooks, the Botanical Art Award Secretary, to help promote this award - which I'm very happy to do.

Below I've tried to do my usual review of the terms and conditions for a "call for entries" and have created a digest, highlighting key facts and making some suggestions.

Any queries need to be addressed by emailing the Secretary: botanicalartaward@finnis-scott-foundation.org.uk

What is the Botanical Art Award?

The Finnis Scott Foundation is offering a NEW biennial award (every two years) valued at up to £10,000, to support and promote the practice of botanical painting.

The aim of the Award is that it should enable established botanical art groups to:

either extend their current practice
and/or create something new and exciting to do with botanical art.

It's important to note that it's expected that the funding from the Award will last for no longer than two years - hence if any project is to have a longer life it will need to secure recurrent funding from other sources before or during the project.

Suitable Projects

The award will fund

discrete projects that promote and encourage the practice and appreciation of botanical painting.

It enables dedicated botanical art societies and similar groups to apply for funding to develop projects they wouldn’t otherwise be able to carry out.

It encourages botanical artists, who often work alone, to collaborate and co-operate with other botanical artists with a view to promoting the practice of botanical art and and creating and outcome for those who appreciate it.

It recognises the contribution of those who have already helped raise the profile of botanical art and now want to further extend their reach to new audiences by enabling them to carrying out something 'extra-ordinary' (i.e. not just business as usual)

Obviously the nature of the project is up to individual groups to decide.

Projects might involve develop educational and creative opportunities e.g. developing

development of a new exhibition,
creation of study workshops or
a publication that will help raise the profile of botanical art.

The judges are looking to reward fresh ideas, original projects and new ways of working.

My thoughts, for what they are worth - in terms of what I think are "gaps" in botanical art activities in the UK - is that a project might be

an event focused on botanical art for the benefit of botanical artists (e.g. an educational conference/symposium)
development of a new sustainability focused Flora - in liaison with relevant botanists/botany groups
a non-garden based Florilegium e.g. one based on native plants found in specific habitats in the UK - with the aim that this should develop over time and attract future sponsorship through the use of the Award for initial output and as seed funding.

Next - the application process (who/what/how/when)!

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Tradescants’ Orchard: A Celebration of Botanical Art

12/4/2017

Celebrating a renovated Garden Museum

Tradescants’ Orchard: A Celebration of Botanical Art will be the first exhibition in the brand new exhibition space in the renovated Garden Museum (which has been closed for a major redevelopment in the past year).

Pineapple by Lesley Anne Sandford

The garden at the Museum re-opens on 22nd May. However the opening date for the exhibition is still not confirmed - but will be on display at between late May and September (opening date to be finalised)

The Tradescants' Orchard is a contemporary exhibition comprising watercolours by fifty eminent botanical artists is to be staged alongside a display of ‘The Tradescants’ Orchard’, a seventeenth-century volume of sixty-six watercolours depicting fruit varieties that John Tradescant and his son might have grown in their market garden at Lambeth.

Hence, the exhibition has two parts:

an exhibition of 17th century watercolours called "the Tradescants' Orchard" from the Ashmolean Museum. This is an official Treasure of the Bodleian Library at Oxford University.
an exhibition of botanical paintings of orchard fruit by contemporary botanical artists (listed below).

The Tradescants' Orchard

The Tradescants' Orchard is a practical document that records the size, colour and texture of fruit with their ripening dates.

This is the first time the watercolours from The Tradescants' Orchard have been lent by the Bodleian Libraries to an exhibition outside Oxford.

They come from the collection of Elias Ashmole, whose collection founded the Ashmolean museum.

A painting from the collection associated with the Tradescant Orchard

Contemporary paintings of fruit

The Garden Museum invited artists from across the globe to participate in the project and the exhibition will include botanical artwork from Europe, Korea and USA.

Many have selected varieties now considered to be heritage fruits. Some are painted on vellum which is a surface with a great heritage.

Exhibiting artists

The participating artists are mostly linked to the existing Florilegium Societies - which focus on painting plants in gardens - or are ex-students at the Chelsea Physic Garden (just across the river). They also include artists from the USA and the Netherlands.

In the list of participating botanical artists below (click "read more" bottom right), those with an asterisk * after their name can also be found in my section about Contemporary Botanical Artists and Illustrators on this website.

Each has a mini bio - where information was available. A link to their websites or more information about them is embedded in their names (if available)

Pomegranates on Branch, Punica Granatum by Heidi Venamore

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